North and South Korea agreed on 9 January to hold bilateral military talks amid heightened regional tensions over Pyongyang’s development and testing of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and joint US-South Korean military exercises.

“Both sides recognised the need to resolve current military tensions and agreed to hold inter-Korean military dialogue,” South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said in a statement following talks held at the border town of Panmunjom between high-level officials from the two countries.

Pyongyang and Seoul will make joint efforts “to ease military tensions, create a peaceful environment on the Korean Peninsula, and promote national reconciliation and unity,” said the statement, adding that the two sides “will activate contact, come-and-go, and exchange and co-operation in various fields”.

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